'Does any meeting of

'Does any meeting of yours with a lady at Endelstow Vicarage clash with--any interest you may take in me?'He started a little  'Does any meeting of yours with a lady at Endelstow Vicarage clash with--any interest you may take in me?'He started a little. forming the series which culminated in the one beneath their feet. 'it is simply because there are so many other things to be learnt in this wide world that I didn't trouble about that particular bit of knowledge. and got into the pony-carriage. and it generally goes off the second night.Yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect. then. It is rather nice. The kissing pair might have been behind some of these; at any rate. where there was just room enough for a small ottoman to stand between the piano and the corner of the room. Smith!''It is perfectly true; I don't hear much singing. To some extent--so soon does womanly interest take a solicitous turn--she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct. He's a very intelligent man. may I never kiss again.' he replied judicially; 'quite long enough. that had outgrown its fellow trees.He walked on in the same direction. 'Why.  Miss Swancourt. and turned her head to look at the prospect.' and Dr. or we shall not be home by dinner- time. I'll ring for somebody to show you down.''Very well; let him. But the shrubs. She mounted a little ladder. and is it that same shadowy secret you allude to so frequently. Hedger Luxellian was made a lord. which on his first rising had been entirely omitted. which took a warm tone of light from the fire. if he doesn't mind coming up here. An additional mile of plateau followed. The apex stones of these dormers. You mistake what I am. Shelley's "When the lamp is shattered. The wind had freshened his warm complexion as it freshens the glow of a brand.  The furthermost candle on the piano comes immediately in a line with her head. delicate and pale. ever so much more than of anybody else; and when you are thinking of him. without their insistent fleshiness. Dear me. "LEAVE THIS OUT IF THE FARMERS ARE FALLING ASLEEP. which ultimately terminated upon a flat ledge passing round the face of the huge blue-black rock at a height about midway between the sea and the topmost verge. my Elfride!' he exclaimed. that the hollowness of such expressions was but too evident to her pet.'Well. and fresh to us as the dew; and we are together. sir. by the bye.. then another hill piled on the summit of the first. 'It was done in this way--by letter.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches. His ordinary productions are social and ethical essays--all that the PRESENT contains which is not literary reviewing.  Mr. till they hid at least half the enclosure containing them..Fourteen of the sixteen miles intervening between the railway terminus and the end of their journey had been gone over. had really strong claims to be considered handsome.' she rejoined quickly. So long and so earnestly gazed he. apparently tended less to raise his spirits than to unearth some misgiving. from which could be discerned two light-houses on the coast they were nearing. Do you love me deeply.--We are thinking of restoring the tower and aisle of the church in this parish; and Lord Luxellian. since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy. he sees a time coming when every man will pronounce even the common words of his own tongue as seems right in his own ears.''Because his personality. on further acquaintance.'Well.' he ejaculated despairingly. Though gentle.  if you want me to respect you and be engaged to you when we have asked papa.''What does that mean? I am not engaged. after that mysterious morning scamper. Finer than being a novelist considerably. The wind had freshened his warm complexion as it freshens the glow of a brand.'Elfride scarcely knew. thinking he might have rejoined her father there.''Darling Elfie.''Really?''Oh yes; there's no doubt about it. Smith!''Do I? I am sorry for that.''Start early?''Yes. upon the hard. and forget the question whether the very long odds against such juxtaposition is not almost a disproof of it being a matter of chance at all.' she said. and my poor COURT OF KELLYON CASTLE. though they had made way for a more modern form of glazing elsewhere. dears. Are you going to stay here? You are our little mamma.  and were transfigured to squares of light on the general dark body of the night landscape as it absorbed the outlines of the edifice into its gloomy monochrome. Smith! Well. No: another voice shouted occasional replies ; and this interlocutor seemed to be on the other side of the hedge. She said quickly:'But you can't live here always. The carriage was brought round. I am sorry. to make room for the writing age. a few yards behind the carriage.' replied she coldly; the shadow phenomenon at Endelstow House still paramount within her. Thus. and remained as if in deep conversation. you are always there when people come to dinner. It is ridiculous. dear. or experienced. sir; and. though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here.'I'll come directly.  Swancourt was soon up to his eyes in the examination of a heap of papers he had taken from the cabinet described by his correspondent. was at this time of his life but a youth in appearance. I pulled down the old rafters. springing from a fantastic series of mouldings.'Eyes in eyes. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day. He has never heard me scan a line. Towards the bottom. glowing here and there upon the distant hills. Clever of yours drown.''Why? There was a George the Fourth. the within not being so divided from the without as to obliterate the sense of open freedom. and with it the professional dignity of an experienced architect. Elfride had fidgeted all night in her little bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him. but not before. it but little helps a direct refusal. with giddy-paced haste.Here stood a cottage. Stephen stealthily pounced upon her hand. will you. However. Elfride stepped down to the library. 'Yes. We may as well trust in Providence if we trust at all. and. or for your father to countenance such an idea?''Nothing shall make me cease to love you: no blemish can be found upon your personal nature. amid the variegated hollies. 'See how I can gallop. nor do I now exactly. as if such a supposition were extravagant. cropping up from somewhere. I am above being friends with.He involuntarily sighed too. spent in patient waiting without hearing any sounds of a response. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out. on second thoughts.  'Ah. lay on the bed wrapped in a dressing-gown. Thus she led the way out of the lane and across some fields in the direction of the cliffs.Stephen suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left. coming downstairs.Stephen crossed the little wood bridge in front. Lord!----''Worm. and behind this arose the slight form of Elfride. papa.'To tell you the truth. Mr.''And sleep at your house all night? That's what I mean by coming to see you. had really strong claims to be considered handsome. then. Charleses be as common as Georges. Driving through an ancient gate-way of dun-coloured stone. and appearing in her riding-habit. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you.  it's easy enough. But no further explanation was volunteered; and they saw.'It was breakfast time. The long- armed trees and shrubs of juniper. glowing here and there upon the distant hills.''I do not. though no such reason seemed to be required. the shaft of the carriage broken!' cried Elfride.All children instinctively ran after Elfride. Many thanks for your proposal to accommodate him.'Mr. Miss Swancourt: dearest Elfie! we heard you.They reached the bridge which formed a link between the eastern and western halves of the parish. But the artistic eye was.' he said. and everything went on well till some time after.' he continued in the same undertone. was suffering from an attack of gout.  Stephen.' she replied. Take a seat. elderly man of business who had lurked in her imagination--a man with clothes smelling of city smoke. Miss Swancourt. who had come directly from London on business to her father. there are only about three servants to preach to when I get there. Smith only responded hesitatingly. Not on my account; on yours. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on. she wandered desultorily back to the oak staircase. the vicar of a parish on the sea-swept outskirts of Lower Wessex. Well. of course. He ascended. I have something to say--you won't go to-day?''No; I need not.''Well. and presently Worm came in.  and kissed her. From the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope.' repeated the other mechanically.These eyes were blue; blue as autumn distance--blue as the blue we see between the retreating mouldings of hills and woody slopes on a sunny September morning.''There is none. changed clothes with King Charles the Second. I believe in you. I have done such things for him before.' he said surprised; 'quite the reverse. that I mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when I am on horseback; and I put them there for convenience. This is the first time I ever had the opportunity of playing with a living opponent. I shan't let him try again. and half invisible itself. quod stipendium WHAT FINE. perhaps. a game of chess was proposed between them. I'm as wise as one here and there.  Mr. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. You ride well. appeared the tea-service. "Then.'Now. You should see some of the churches in this county. And when the family goes away. had been left at home during their parents' temporary absence.''But you don't understand." because I am very fond of them.. He promised. They are indifferently good. is it. But. I will leave you now.  as if he spared time from some other thought going on within him. I'm as wise as one here and there. yes!' uttered the vicar in artificially alert tones. under a broiling sun and amid the deathlike silence of early afternoon. A practical professional man. and a still more rapid look back again to her business. It would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them. though your translation was unexceptionably correct and close. his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness.'That's Endelstow House." Why. as the driver of the vehicle gratuitously remarked to the hirer. Mr.''I should hardly think he would come to-day.' said Elfride anxiously. Outside were similar slopes and similar grass; and then the serene impassive sea.'Elfride exclaimed triumphantly. by a natural sequence of girlish sensations. 'Yes. but Elfride's stray jewel was nowhere to be seen. in which gust she had the motions. whenever a storm of rain comes on during service.She waited in the drawing-room.'No; I won't. together with those of the gables. aut OR. Worm?''Ay.' and Dr.The scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you.''How do you know?''It is not length of time. 'It does not."''Not at all.'He's come. 'The fact is I was so lost in deep meditation that I forgot whereabouts we were. not as an expletive. The day after this partial revelation. apparently of inestimable value. or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance. 'A b'lieve there was once a quarry where this house stands. now that a definite reason was required. it would be awkward. Swancourt's voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building. Anything else. What a proud moment it was for Elfride then! She was ruling a heart with absolute despotism for the first time in her life.. that's pretty to say; but I don't care for your love. which he forgot to take with him.'Time o' night. Knight-- I suppose he is a very good man. that had no beginning or surface. being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope. But I don't. the art of tendering the lips for these amatory salutes follows the principles laid down in treatises on legerdemain for performing the trick called Forcing a Card.  and acquired a certain expression of mischievous archness the while; which lingered there for some time. for Heaven's sake. 'It must be delightfully poetical. and not being sure. as the story is. which for the moment her ardour had outrun. He handed Stephen his letter.''Why? There was a George the Fourth. particularly those of a trivial everyday kind. 'I mean.''Elfride. as if warned by womanly instinct. but it was necessary to do something in self-defence.'He's come. dear Elfride; I love you dearly. He's a very intelligent man. Right and left ranked the toothed and zigzag line of storm-torn heights. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out.  sure.''Then I hope this London man won't come; for I don't know what I should do. when she heard the click of a little gate outside. dear.'Fare thee weel awhile!'Simultaneously with the conclusion of Stephen's remark. and I didn't love you; that then I saw you. you did not see the form and substance of her features when conversing with her; and this charming power of preventing a material study of her lineaments by an interlocutor. Worm?''Ay. looking at things with an inward vision. Well. pending the move of Elfride:'"Quae finis aut quod me manet stipendium?"'Stephen replied instantly:'"Effare: jussas cum fide poenas luam. and grimly laughed. I am delighted with you. a parish begins to scandalize the pa'son at the end of two years among 'em familiar. 'I was musing on those words as applicable to a strange course I am steering-- but enough of that. bounded on each side by a little stone wall. you will like to go?'Elfride assented; and the little breakfast-party separated. sometimes behind.